To reduce deaths from heart-related diseases in Nigeria, experts in the field of cardiovascular and thoracic medicine, have called on the Federal Government to invest in cardiovascular care.
The experts said access to cardiovascular care and services was low in Nigeria, revealing that only two per cent of Nigerians living with heart diseases had access to treatment abroad while 98 per cent died at home, owing to lack of care and treatment.
The experts, who spoke at an awareness event in Lagos, identified ways of advancing cardiothoracic surgical practice in Nigeria in order to improve the lives of patients living with heart diseases.
Cardiovascular diseases, according to the World Health Organisation, are the number one causes of death globally as more people die annually from these diseases than from any other cause.
An estimated 17.5 million people died from cardiovascular diseases in 2012, representing 31 per cent of all global deaths. Of these deaths, an estimated 7.4 million were due to coronary heart disease and 6.7 million were due to stroke, WHO said.
One of the experts and consultant cardiothoracic surgeon, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Prof. Martin Aghaji, said a study showed that Nigeria was in dire need of improved cardiothoracic practice and survival rates.
“I can tell you from our study that only two per cent of the patients go abroad and 98 per cent sit here and die. So there is a need for us to galvanise and bring together the surgeons and cardiologists so that we can tackle this problem,” he said.
In his lecture titled,”Advancing Cardiothoracic Surgical Practice in Nigeria,” Aghaji identified medical errors as a major problem.
To prevent medical errors during surgery, he recommended the use of checklist before surgery, stressing that using checklist before surgery reduces deaths caused by medical errors by 35 per cent.
“There is a need for practitioners to prevent medical errors. If somebody has a heart attack, there is a protocol for handling that. We want to unify how patients are handled because it saves life. If you don’t do that, you find out that patients are handled haphazardly and this leads to loss of lives,” he aded.
cardiovascular diseases in 2012, representing 31 per cent of all global deaths. Of these deaths, an estimated 7.4 million were due to coronary heart disease and 6.7 million were due to stroke, WHO said.
One of the experts and consultant cardiothoracic surgeon, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Prof. Martin Aghaji, said a study showed that Nigeria was in dire need of improved cardiothoracic practice and survival rates.
“I can tell you from our study that only two per cent of the patients go abroad and 98 per cent sit here and die. So there is a need for us to galvanise and bring together the surgeons and cardiologists so that we can tackle this problem,” he said.
In his lecture titled,”Advancing Cardiothoracic Surgical Practice in Nigeria,” Aghaji identified medical errors as a major problem.
To prevent medical errors during surgery, he recommended the use of checklist before surgery, stressing that using checklist before surgery reduces deaths caused by medical errors by 35 per cent.
“There is a need for practitioners to prevent medical errors. If somebody has a heart attack, there is a protocol for handling that. We want to unify how patients are handled because it saves life. If you don’t do that, you find out that patients are handled haphazardly and this leads to loss of lives,” he aded.
In his submission, another Cardiothoracic Surgeon at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital , Dr. Bode Falase, stressed the need to ensure a sharp reduction in errors arising from wrong diagnosis.
He also wants a reduction in laboratory tests, treatments and transfusion errors, which he said were key in achieving improved survival rates.
Falase, however, expressed concern over the increase in cardiac-related diseases in the country.
On his part, Dr. Augustine Olugbemi, explained that cardiovascular diseases were into two categories and some were congenital while some were acquired from lifestyles.
Olugbemi, who is also a Consultant Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, urged Nigerians to see a doctor regularly.
“For prevention, quit smoking and reduce alcohol as much as you can. Do regular exercises and maintain healthy weight. If you have consistent cough, don’t say it is pneumonia, go and see a doctor. It can be controlled with lifestyle modification,” he advised.
